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April 2003
Letters from Wongan Hills | |
|  | | Looking down along Wongan Hills shops |
| | Kevin and Sarah Watts said goodbye to Staffordshire and moved to Australia to start a new life down under. Now Sarah has sent us another update about life in Wongan Hills..
Story by
Sarah Watts
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| | It is nearly six months since setting up home and a new way of life in Wongan Hills. In a town of under 900 people it is amazing to learn the variety of activities available to all age groups living in this lovely Wheatbelt town.
Just the other week I purchased a couple of tickets to W.H.A.T.S (Wongan Hills Amateur Theatre Society), our local theatre group’s latest performance of ‘Cruisin Calypso’. The event was held at our local Civic Centre in the town. This involved humorous performances from several of our well-known local town members along with a delicious meal catered and served by many local volunteers which included our Parent and Citizen’s Committee, the Fire and Rescue Team, Cubbyhouse staff and local school children.
It truly was a huge team effort that extended over many areas from the implementation of the rehearsals to the final performances on the Friday and Saturday night. So much time and patience went into the costumes, catering, setting up the hall, administration and promotion that it is hard to believe that a small town like Wongan Hills could pull off such a big event. Nevertheless, the local town members did pull it off and there were full houses on both nights that proved to be an extremely enjoyable and fun night out. This is a great example of how living in a small town can bring a wonderful sense of community and help local people expose their individual talents.
Not long after I arrived last year, the local dance school held their annual performance, also at the Civic Centre. This involved around 50 of our talented young dancers (under the tutelage of a well-respected ballet teacher, from Toodyay) and this again was an outstanding evening full of disciplined performers and beautifully crafted costumes. This was organised by the Wongan Hills Dance School Committee with a lot of volunteer work from the parents and friends of the dance school members. The young dancers really excelled themselves in front of a packed hall with no seats to spare. After the performance there were refreshments of home-made cakes and biscuits that had been baked by many of the parents and volunteers involved.
It seems that all events in the town, whether they be sporting, fund-raising, dancing, drama, etc., are always well received and supported. Just this week we had a fundraiser for the Kindergarten and Pre-primary school that involved donations of Easter Eggs, a raffle was then organised to win these eggs to raise money for the school. This is one of several fundraisers that I have seen that are generally held outside our local café, called ‘Lara’s’. Outside the café seems to be where all fund-raising for local causes takes place, as the ladies and gentlemen involved in selling the raffle tickets are in close proximity to a great cappuccino whilst collecting their funds.
Wongan Hills is a perfect example of a town that can support itself by joining it’s members in various ways by using general interests and events to maintain a vibrant and positive community.
Sarah Watts
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Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST1 1JJ
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